Always Abound in the Work of the Lord! I Corinthians 15:50-58

Always Abound in the Work of the Lord!

I Corinthians 15:50-58

Introduction: This paragraph called “The Preacher,” author apparently unknown, shows how important the hope described in I Corinthians 15 really is...

 There is a preacher who speaks bolder and louder than any other. He is not very popular though the world is his stage. He travels every part of the globe, and he speaks every language and knows every dialect.  He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to the people of every religion and those of no religion, and yet the subject of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent and powerful preacher, often stirring feelings, which no other preacher could, and bringing tears to eyes that never weep.  No one can refute his arguments, nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals. He shatters life with his message. Most people hate him; everyone fears him. His name?  Death.   Every tombstone is his pulpit, every newspaper prints his text, and someday every one of you will be his sermon.    -Author Unknown

If that was the end of the story, if there was nothing more to hope for, it would be pretty depressing. As Paul said earlier in this chapter, if that was all we had to look forward to, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”  His great point is that that is not the end. I don’t know much about Benjamin Franklin’s spirituality, but the epitaph he wrote for himself seems to express our hope...

The Body of B. Franklin, Printer, Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering & Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the work shall not be lost; For it will, as he believed, appear once more In a new and more elegant Edition Corrected and improved By the Author. –  Given by Ben Franklin to Samuel Morris,  August 31, 1776.

In this chapter of I Corinthians Paul has made clear the essential connection between what his readers had believed, the resurrection of Jesus, and what they needed to understand, that believers in Jesus will just as certainly be raised from the dead. Now at the conclusion of the chapter he shows what difference this truth should make in the life of believers. For Paul, theology is always practical. The doctrine of the resurrection is no exception.  Today, as we honor our senior saints, this is also a reminder of our motivation to stay engaged in the mission. Thank God for how he has worked in your life (we certainly do!), but recognize he has you here for a purpose: there is still work for you to do. He will give you work until your life is over, and life until your work is done.

The Maine Idea: Our Hope is sure, Jesus wins, and we are His! So stay faithful, and stay busy, until that day.

I. Radical transformation: Paul begins where he left off in the preceding verses, and he expands on it: He spoke about our resurrection body, but he wants it to be clear that both the living and the dead believers will be changed at the moment of the resurrection (50-53).

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

          I tell you this, brothers... As he often does in this letter, Paul is appealing to the Corinthians as brothers and sisters in the Lord. He knows them, he worked among them for at least 18 months. He had led some to the Lord and discipled others. They were struggling in many ways but he recognizes them as children of God and co-heirs of Christ. So he is bringing this powerful chapter to a close and will encourage them to be faithful, to live out the implications of their faith.

       ...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Paul talks first about the need for the resurrection and the radical transformation that will accompany it.  “Flesh and blood” is that which is perishable, that is, our “natural” body, weakened and poisoned by sin.  I think this is part of what led to Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden after the fall. Remember the scene at the end of Genesis 3,

²² Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-"  ²³ therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.  ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:22-24).

God had a plan for humanity, and it did not include living forever in a fallen body. It necessitated redemption, a re-creation, which would require a radical transformation of the body.

⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...

       Here is the “mystery,” the “revealed secret,” something new that Paul was explaining more clearly. The New Testament idea of “mystery” was expressed in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10,   “⁹ But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’-  ¹⁰ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” What about the believers who are alive when the Lord returns to raise up those who “sleep” in Christ?  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed!  There will be believers, alive on the earth when Jesus returns to raise up the “dead in Christ.” In the eschatology of the New Testament, “phase one” of the return of Christ will be what has been called the “rapture,” when the bodies of the dead believers are raised up, and those who are alive will be transformed, and together we will meet the Lord in the air. The dead (in Christ) will be raised “imperishable,” so their “natural body” is radically transformed into the kind of imperishable “spiritual” body that Paul described in the preceding verses (like Jesus’ post-resurrection body). And the believers who are still alive, will be instantly transformed, “in the blink of an eye,” and taken up with them.  In an earlier letter, to the Thessalonians, Paul had made a similar statement in chapter 4,

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord... (I Thess 4:14-17).

That is very powerful, direct language, and reinforces the teaching we see here! That is our blessed hope. And it should motivate us to serve faithfully.  Cora O., Gary P.’s mother, died last week, at least her body did. Her spirit is now with the Lord, as her body awaits the resurrection. What an example of faithfulness, serving, encouraging, witnessing, until the Lord took her home! She had a sure hope, and she found joy in serving. That is Paul’s message to each of us: Our Hope is sure, Jesus wins, and we are His! So stay faithful, and stay busy, until that day. We will experience a Radical Transformation, and we look for a...

II. Certain Victory: Jesus’ victory over death means our victory is certain (54-57)!

⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."  ⁵⁵ "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

       When we look at the language of spiritual warfare in the Bible, and then look at our own experience, it is sometimes difficult to have the confidence that the Bible calls us to. Even so, we enter the Battle, trusting God to do more than we would hope for. Winston Churchill’s first speech to the house of commons three days after becoming prime minister, at the beginning of World War II, expressed steadfast confidence in the face of war:

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for."

Churchill didn't lie, he didn't say it would be easy! Did someone tell you the Christian life would be easy? NOT! Jesus warned we would have tribulation in the world! We are in a war. As our neighbors in New Hampshire would say, “Live free or die!” Paul quotes from the Old Testament scriptures in talking about our sure victory in Jesus. He is making it clear that God’s plan was foreshadowed in the language of the prophets, that the battle with invading armies and pagan inhabitants in the promised land were only an outward manifestation of another war against a different kind of enemy. The prophets had glimpses of an ultimate, eschatological victory.  The last enemy will be destroyed when “Death is swallowed up in victory.” The book of Revelation is series of visions given to the aged apostle John, in exile on the island of Patmos. As the battle is reaching it’s climax we read this,

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.  ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.  ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16).

The One who is called “Faithful and True,” riding on a white horse, judging and making war, called “The Word of God,” “King of kings and Lord of lords,” is Jesus. The Battle is the Lord’s! Victory is certain, Jesus wins! As surely as the tomb could not hold Him, His plan will be brought to completion. The day will come that John writes about a couple of chapters later,

"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."  ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new..." (Revelation 21:3-5).

What do we do in the meantime? How should we live? Our Hope is sure, Jesus wins, and we are His! So stay faithful, and stay busy, until that day. A Certain Victory over death, a Radical Transformation of our body, should motivate our...

III. Steadfast Service:  The victory we have in Jesus is a motivation to stay engaged in the mission until the Lord calls us home (58).

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

       Therefore, my beloved brothers... This is even more personal, more transparent than Paul’s language in verse 50. He called them brothers, but now, in case the sternness of this letter had somehow left anyone in doubt, Paul calls them “beloved” brothers. Their theology was suspect, their lives were too much like the pagans around them, there were divisions and pride and conflicts in their midst, but Paul loved them, they were a family, they had the same Father. So he has taught them in this letter and in this chapter, and now he exhorts them. “Therefore,” in the light of the promise of the resurrection, the certain transformation that is coming whether we die, or live until the coming of the Lord, the victory that is ours in Jesus... 

       Be steadfast... The word used here isn’t common in the New Testament, it’s only used by Paul, and only three times at that. He uses it in Colossians 1:23 of standing firm in your faith. In I Corinthians 7:37 he uses it in talking about being “steadfast” in your decision about marriage and singleness, not giving in to temptation. Here in 15:50 the call is to stand firm in a faith that works, a belief that the suffering of this present world is temporary, the best is yet to come!

       Immovable... Another uncommon word, only here in the entire Bible. The idea is clear enough. A few years ago when hurricane Sandy made a left turn into the Jersey shore, many homes and structures were totally wiped out. They were essentially built on a sandbar. We should know better if we read the Bible. Build on the Solid Rock, and you will be “steadfast and immovable...”

       Always abounding in the work of the Lord... Paul usually uses this word “abounding” to describe the overflowing, abundant grace that God has lavished upon us. The word here is used to describe what our response to God’s grace should be, what it should look like in the life of a follower of Jesus.   We should “abound,” that is, “overflow” in the work of the Lord.  This is the response of faith. It is an act of worship, recognizing that Jesus is Lord, and that it is our privilege to serve him, not reluctantly or out of obligation, but joyfully, abundantly, going above and beyond.  It isn’t only “filling spots” on the committees of the church, those are important, those are things that need to get done. It is living a life that overflows with love for God, He is what we treasure, and because we do we live for Him. His mission is our mission.

       Remember the scene on “Everybody loves Raymond” when Ally, a pre-teen, said she had a big question for her parents. They were afraid that she was going to ask THE questions that can make parents uncomfortable, but they weren’t ready for what it was that was bothering her. Raymond, fortified with children’s books on the birds and the bees went to talk to her. That would have been easy compared to the question she asked: “Why are we here in the world? Why didn’t God just take us right to heaven?”  Those are pretty big questions! Sometimes young people struggle with their purpose and calling and ask, “Why am I here?” and often older people wonder, “Why am I still here? What can I really do?”  Listen, God saved you on purpose, for a purpose. He has a plan for each of us. And he will give us work until our life is over, and life until our work is done.  That means we never retire from the Christian life, and we are never too young to start serving. God has called and gifted each of us to have a part in His mission. And He has strategically placed each of us exactly where he wants us. He is the Lord of the harvest. He is building His church. And we have a part in his mission. None of us can do everything. All of us can do something.  Do you believe that?

       Knowing your labor is not in vain... If the resurrection was not true, Paul has said our labor would be vain. But our life has meaning, purpose, because Christ has been raised, that is a fact of history. And because He lives, we will live also.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Our Hope is sure, Jesus wins, and we are His! So stay faithful, and stay busy, until that day.

 What would God have me to do in response to this passage?  If you are a new believer in Jesus, I hope you see the truth in this chapter of the biblical doctrine of the resurrection and eternal life. We were not created for an eternal, immaterial existence in the clouds. We were created for life in the New Heavens and the New Earth. And that is what we will experience if we know Christ. Not forever as a disembodied spirit, but in a transformed, glorified body free from the influence of sin.  That is our hope! How then shall we live? Paul says, in the light of this truth, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.  Today we honor our senior saints. Let me encourage you. The lessons you have learned, the faith building experiences you have had, are too important to keep to yourselves. And for the younger believers, you may be blessed if you talk to our brothers and sisters and hear their stories and the lessons they are learning. Our vision statement talks about “...A community of Christ followers, rooted in the Word, treasuring God as supremely valuable, proclaiming the riches of His grace to the world.” Is that you vision as well?  Do you have the sure hope of a radical transformation and a certain victory? Then, “...my beloved brothers [and sisters], be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”   Think about that, AMEN.